Musings of a Compulsive Thinker

Road trips

They are a great American rite of passage. Whether you strike out on your own or with a few friends, there is an undeniable sense of freedom that comes to you as you are cruising down an unfamiliar highway with nothing but a spare change of clothes, some snacks, and a toothbrush in the back, some money in your pocket, and prudent emergency supplies buried in the trunk.

As long as you have a few caffeinated beverages in a cooler (I recommend Starbucks Double Shots, or Mountain Dew), some bottled water in the back seat, one or two good road maps, and blankets stashed in the back for the cold nights spent in the car, you can get by in reasonable comfort.

It also helps if your travelling party includes a navigator who can read maps.

You drive until you're too tired to drive safely anymore, then you trade seats with your navigator and take a nap; when all of your potential drivers are exhausted, you pull into a rest area, and you sleep. Then you wake up with the sun and start driving again. You stop for only four other things: gas, bathroom breaks, food, and places that look intriguing; there are floating bonus points to be won if you manage to combine at least three of those things in one stop.

It's not the classiest, or the most expedient, means of travel, but it sure can be a lot of fun.

Even if your eventual destination is not quite what you expected -- or even if it completely fails to meet expectations -- well, the journey is at least as important as the place to which you choose to journey.

(Besides, Roswell may not have been as much of a po-dunk little nowhere town as I was hoping, but the UFO museum was just fascinating.)

--

Labels: ponderings, travel

posted by the alygator @ 3:16 PM